Eating Disorders in Adolescence, Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa/Bulimia
Conditions
Keywords
Dog-assisted intervention, Eating Disorder Symptom, Depression, Anxiety, Adolescent behavior and character, Health-related quality of life, Strength, Body composition, Treatment satisfaction
Brief summary
This study aims to improve eating disorders symptomatology, mental, psychosocial and physical health, quality of life, strength and body composition of adolescents with eating disorders by the development of a dog-assisted therapy program. The current research will involve thirty-two patients distributed equally in a control and an experimental group. The intervention group will participate once a week in a dog-assisted therapy of seven weeks. Moreover, all the included patients will participate in an assessment session before and after the intervention to compare the effects of the dog-assisted therapy within and between groups in anxiety, depression, character, behavior, eating disorder evolution, health-related quality of life, treatment satisfaction, strength and body composition. Based on previous studies on different populations, it is expected that, compared to the control group, the experimental group may experience a potential reduction in anxiety, depression and symptoms, while improving quality of life, strength, body composition and behavior.
Detailed description
Animal-Assisted Therapies (AAT) have proved to increase self-esteem, social capacity and impulse control while reducing anxiety and depression. Thus, AAT could be an innovative and effective therapy to improve the mental, social and physical health of adolescents with eating disorders. Based on previous studies on different populations, it is expected that, compared to the control group, the experimental group may experience a potential reduction in anxiety, depression and symptoms, while improving quality of life, strength, body composition and behavior. Thirty-two adolescents, younger than 18 years and diagnosed with eating disorders from the University Hospital Niño Jesus will participate in this study. The informed consent must be signed to be included in the study. The intervention will consist of 7 weeks conducted once a week (50 minutes each session). It will include three parts: 1) a welcome part aimed to get in touch with the dog, 2) a main part, where participants will be taught basic notions about dog training and then try to train the dogs. In this part, the patients will perform different activities and exercises with the dog. 3) A closing part to say goodbye to the dogs.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALDog-Assisted Therapy
During seven weeks patients will assist one time per week (1 hour). The therapy will be conducted by an expert psychologist. The intervention will consist of 7 weeks conducted once a week (50 minutes each session). It will include three parts: 1) a welcome part aimed to get in touch with the dog, 2) a main part, where participants will be taught basic notions about dog training and then try to train the dogs. In this part, the patients will perform different activities and exercises with the dog. 3) A closing part to say goodbye to the dogs.
Sponsors
Purina España (Reg. Trademark of Nestle S.A.)
Daniel Collado-Mateo
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Intervention model description
Two groups: one control and one experimental group
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
No minimum to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Adolescents in the Psychiatry and Psychology Service of the Niño Jesús University Hospital * Patients diagnosed with eating disorders * Adolescents with the willingness to participate and availability to assist * Having read and signed the written informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with dog-allergy or dog phobia * Adolescents with a history of impulsive animal aggression
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in Eating disorder symptoms | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the EDI-2 questionnaire to evaluate the evolution of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa normal symptoms. The EDI 2 is a 91 item scale with 8 subscales - (Drive for thinness, Bulimia, body dissatisfaction, ineffectiveness, perfection, interpersonal distrust, interoceptive awareness and maturity fears.). Respondents rate each item from 5 (usually), to 0 (never). Higher scores mean more severe symptoms. |
| Changes in Health-related quality of life | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the Kidscreen-10, which consists of 10 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Scores range between 10 and 50, and a higher score means better health-related quality of life. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changes in Adolescent character | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised. It consists of 240 items and 5 options for each one. It measures 4 temperaments, Novelty Seeking (NS), Harm Avoidance (HA), Reward Dependence (RD), and Persistence (PS), and three characters, Self-directedness (SD), Cooperativeness (CO), and Self-transcendence (ST). Each item is scored from 1 to 5 with higher scores meaning higher levels in each dimension. |
| Changes in Behavior | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the Child Behavior Checklist inside the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment to assess adolescents' psychopathology. It consists of 113 items and the parents must complete it to evaluate emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. It is scored from 0=not true to 2=true. Raw scores range from 0 to 226. Higher scores mean a worse outcome. |
| Changes in Anxiety | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the STAI-C questionnaire. It includes two different scales, one to asses state anxiety (20 items) and the other one to evaluate trait anxiety (20 items) in Spanish adolescents. Each item is rated from 1 to 3 thus, scores in each sub-scales can range from a minimum of 20 to a maximum score of 60. Higher scores mean higher anxiety. |
| Changes in Body mass | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Assessed using a weighing device |
| Treatment satisfaction | Inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the treatment satisfaction scale (CRES-4) by Feixas i Viaplana et al., 2012, which consists of 3 dimensions. The score in each one ranges from 0 to 100 and the global score is the sum of the dimensions (from 0 to 300). Higher scores mean higher satisfaction. |
| Changes in Strength | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by a handgrip dynamometer (Takei) to evaluate the maximum strength applied with the hand. |
| Changes in Depression | At baseline and inmediately after the intervention (within 7 days after the last session) | Measured by the Children Depression Inventory with the included 27 items, each one with 3 options, from 0 (absence of symptoms) to 2 (severe symptoms). The total score ranges from 0-54. Higher scores mean higher depression. |
Countries
Spain
Outcome results
None listed